 | Wednesday, April 2, 2008
Issue 810 | | Will Smith, Editor |  |
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Editor's Note: Today's top story is the $27 million in funding just secured by RFID-based promotions tracking solutions provider GOLIATH Solutions.
RFID hardware manufacturer Sirit made two announcements yesterday: the first, that its INfinity 510 reader has been certified for use in China, and the second, that it has completed the recently-announced acquisition of RSI ID Technologies (see Sirit to Acquire RSI ID Technologies).
Advanced ID Corporation has landed a contract to sell a minimum of two million RFID chips to Mesnac, a Chinese tire production equipment and software maker. Mesnac will tag tires during the production process to enable visibility and identification for the life of the tires. Advanced ID, which will supply the chips through its Pneu-Logic division, believes the deal is a harbinger of increased market demand. "The scale of the deal ensures that there is a bright future for RFID use in tire production, with signs that take-up could increase rapidly and substantially," reads the announcement. |
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| - PCB Tracking & Visibility Solution from Omnitrol Networks (site)  | | - Employees steal over $1 billion per week from employers (site) | | | Training & Certification | | - RFID Essentials e-learning - Learn RFID in hours! (site) | | | Employment | | - RFID Recruiters - 100% Focused on RFID Recruiting (site) | | | Upcoming Events | | - AWA PABS08 N. America Conference, Sept 11-12, Chicago, IL (site) | | - AWA PABS08 Asia Conference, Dec 4-5 - Hong Kong, China (site) | | - European Supply Chain & Logistics, 13-15 May, Germany (site) | | - RFID World Asia 2008, 8 to 11 April, Suntec Singapore (site) | | - SCAN & RFID CHINA 2008, June 19-21, Guangzhou, China (site) | | | Research & Whitepapers | | - RFID Marketing Strategies Report (site) | | | RFID Tags & Labels | | - Ferroxtag HF tags: Smart on Metal! (site) | |
RFID Promotions Tracking Provider Gets $27M Funding
GOLIATH Solutions, a pioneer of RFID-based promotions tracking solutions, has announced $27 million in funding. The company's solutions are deployed in retail establishments to enable the real-time tracking of in-store promotion pieces (like point-of-sale or end-of-aisle displays), and the product sales that result from those promotions. The funding is split between a $16 million equity investment by Cordjia and The Walnut Group, and $11 million in debt commitments.
RFID Update first covered GOLIATH just over two years ago, when the company announced a major client win in the form of US pharmacy chain Walgreens (see Walgreens Deal Spells Promotions-Tracking Boon). The contract called for GOLIATH to equip all Walgreens locations around the US with its promotions tracking solution. CEO Bob Michelson told RFID Update that the original Walgreens roll-out schedule has slipped, but that it will be complete by the end of this year. A portion of the funding will be put toward that completion. The funding will also go toward GOLIATH's expansion into other retail channels, namely grocery, office, and specialty.
The last year has been a good one for GOLIATH. In particular, the company has gained a lot of traction among consumer packaged goods (CPG) manufacturers, who pay a subscription fee for access to the promotions tracking data that the GOLIATH solution generates in real time. "We have seen an avalanche of interest in and use of our data," said Michelson.
"Our CPG numbers have tripled in the last year," he added, saying that they now count about 40 CPG manufacturers as clients.
It hasn't been easy for the seven-year-old company, though. Michelson pointed out that their real-time promotions tracking solution represents an entirely new way of doing things. Traditionally, CPG manufacturers deploy auditors to physically visit a small subset of stores and check that promotion displays are in fact displayed according to the schedule negotiated between the retailer and manufacturer. That process, while labor intensive, expensive, error prone, and inaccurate, was firmly entrenched in the mindset of manufacturers. They haven't historically allocated part of their budgets to real-time promotions tracking.
GOLIATH has finally started to open their eyes to the possibilities, according to Michelson, who reiterated how attractive the store-level, real-time data can be. A manufacturer can almost immediately understand the impact on product sales of moving a promotional display from one section of the store to another, for example. "We have really helped create a new medium tracking mechanism," explained Michelson.
He expects that the company's years of evangelizing will start paying off. "Our time has now come," he said, predicting a 30 to 50 percent growth in their number of CPG subscribers in the coming year. "I do believe that within a couple years, [real-time promotions tracking] is going to become an industry standard."
Anecdotal evidence from the RFID industry would suggest that GOLIATH is indeed positioned well. Promotions tracking has been cited by such influential RFID adopters as Procter & Gamble and Wal-Mart as a sweet spot of RFID adoption in the retail environment.
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| Products & Services | PCB Tracking & Visibility Solution from Omnitrol Networks
Off-the-shelf solution provides automated real-time visibility and complete electronic pedigree for traceability on parts and WIP providing real-time dashboards, alerts and reports for shop-floor management. The pedigree information is automatically programmed into Texas Instruments' RFID tag for access to critical data without the need for connection to a back-end database. Learn more. | Employees steal over $1 billion per week from employers
the American Management Association reports. 95% of businesses are victimized by employee theft. Managers are reluctant to ask questions, because trusted employees may feel offended, leaving business owners in a difficult situation. What can you do? Nox: Intelligent Perimeter Defense from Simply RFID provides advanced security and protection for business assets. | | | Training & Certification | RFID Essentials e-learning - Learn RFID in hours!
RFID Essentials, new Web-based training from RFID Revolution, gets professionals up to speed quickly and cost effectively. Course 1, "Introduction to RFID", is a comprehensive, hands-on workshop, accessible anytime from anywhere. In eight hours, you acquire the knowledge you need to advance your organization's RFID initiative and speed return on investment. Learn more | | | Employment | RFID Recruiters - 100% Focused on RFID Recruiting
Whether your company is looking for the best RFID talent or you have the best RFID talent and are looking for the best RFID employer, RFID Recruiters offers the most focused approach to your objective. To learn how the RFID industry and the RFID job market are evolving, visit www.rfidrecruiters.com | | | Upcoming Events | AWA PABS08 N. America Conference, Sept 11-12, Chicago, IL
AWA is organizing the Product Authentication & Brand Security Conference 2008 on September 11-12 in Chicago, IL. The event includes presentations and panel discussions with brand owners, legal authorities, associations, converters and suppliers; also networking sessions, a supplier forum, a social program and more. Find more on the program here. | AWA PABS08 Asia Conference, Dec 4-5 - Hong Kong, China
AWA presents the Asian Product Authentication & Brand Security Conference 2008, to be held on 4 & 5 December in Hong Kong, China. PABS08 Asia focuses on the threats specific to the Asia Pacific region, various elements of IP Theft, and leading-edge solutions. Find more on the program here. | European Supply Chain & Logistics, 13-15 May, Germany
Bringing together Europe's leading providers of supply chain management to evaluate best practices and to move the supply chain agenda into the boardroom. Also, featuring the AMR Research Strategy Session: What makes a supply chain world class in today's global market? More information here: www.supplychain.eu.com | RFID World Asia 2008, 8 to 11 April, Suntec Singapore
RFID World Asia 2008 is THE event for finding out the transforming power of RFID for your business and its future. Sign up now for RFID Asia Summit 2008, targeted at senior-level executives; to understand and reap the benefits of this new business tool. For more information go to www.terrapinn.com/2008/rfid | SCAN & RFID CHINA 2008, June 19-21, Guangzhou, China
As one of the earliest, most specialized and authoritative exhibitions in China, approved and supported directly from State Ministry, the 8th SCAN & RFID CHINA 2008 will present you the impressive up-dated development and market of RFID technology in rising China. To know more, please go to www.scan-china.com. | | | Research & Whitepapers | RFID Marketing Strategies Report
Thirty-nine pages of original research on RFID audience perceptions, including 30+ figures of tactics, content & messaging, and recommendations to guide marketing strategy. Also, Top-10 RFID company rankings based on 550+ survey respondents. View the executive summary free, with Top-3 sample rankings. Only $495 Individual License or $795 Corporate License. Available now | | | RFID Tags & Labels | Ferroxtag HF tags: Smart on Metal!
Ferroxtag is a new family of HF RFID tags suitable for operation on metallic surfaces. Ferroxtag's special ferrite antenna was developed using Ferroxcube's years of experience in ferrite technology. The high performance antenna means longer read range with a smaller tag. Visit www.ferroxtag.com |
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RFID Update is the RFID industry daily. Launched in early 2004 to provide timely analysis of RFID industry news, RFID Update publishes editorial briefings every weekday for the growing ranks of top level executives involved in the deployment of RFID. Each issue delivers the breaking news and analysis most pertinent to successful RFID implementations, allowing readers to understand global RFID developments as they happen.
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